Rebuttal to Sam Shamoun’s
article Do They Eat or Not?

The Quran records
the unbelievers’ objections to Muhammad’s apostleship on the grounds that he
was a mere mortal who ate just like them:

They also say,
'What ails this Messenger that he eats food, and goes in the markets?
Why has an angel not been sent down to him, to be a warner
with him? S. 25:7 Arberry

The Quran proceeds
to respond to the complaint of the unbelievers:

We never sent
before thee any messengers but lo! they
verily ate food and walked in the markets. And We
have appointed some of you a test for others: Will ye be steadfast? And thy
Lord is ever Seer. S. 25:20 Pickthall

The response given
is that every messenger whom Allah sent was a person who ate food and walked
through the market places, so the unbelievers shouldn’t be surprised that
Muhammad eats and walks in their markets. This also implies that all the
messengers that Allah sent were human beings, just as the following texts make
clear:

And We sent not before you (as Messengers) any but men, whom We
inspired from among the people of townships. Have they not travelled through the earth and seen what was the end of
those who were before them? And verily, the home of the Hereafter is the best
for those who fear Allah and obey Him (by abstaining from sins and evil deeds, and by performing righteous good deeds). Do you not
then understand? 12:109 Hilali-Khan

And We sent not (as Our messengers) before thee other than
men, whom We inspired. Ask the followers of the Reminder if ye know
not? We gave them not bodies that would not eat food, nor were
they immortals. S. 21:7-8 Pickthall

This is the reason
why the Quran rebukes the unbelievers for their demand that Allah should have
sent angels to speak to them:

My response:

So far, all
is correct and you haven’t given any of your ridiculous interpretations yet.

Shamoun wrote:

Apart from the fact that the Quran expressly
states that Allah does raise up messengers from among the angels:

My response:

Before
looking at your ridiculous argument, let me explain these verses to you.

God chooses message-bearers from among the angels as well
as from among men. But, behold, God [alone] is all-hearing, all-see­ing:

22:75

It is no fault of yours that you do not understand this
concept as all your books are completely written by man. The angels are not the
messengers sent for the people. The angels bring the message of God to the
Prophets who are messengers and who then give the message to the people. Maybe
if you had read in context and also after learning some English, you wouldn’t
have made such a childish remark.

Shamoun further goes some verses that indicate that angels don’t
eat. We all agree with that, no need to comment on that as the matter has been
explained above.